Economic justice and freedom of conscience

Abstract

As the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals become more prominent in public debate, so also do con fl icts between these rights and rights asserted by some religious persons to discriminate on grounds of conscientious belief. Such con fl icts may increase as the marriage of same-sex couples becomes more widespread and vendors potentially refuse to provide space, food, fl owers, honeymoon accommodations, or other services to same-sex couples on the same terms as traditional couples. I shall first establish a theoretical framework for suggesting that religious accommodations may be legitimate but with a price. Second, using comparisons with conscientious objections in health care, I shall argue that refusals must not impede the ability of same-sex couples to obtain the bene fits of civil marriage enjoyed by traditional couples.